Oct 18, 2017 · As the Syrian Democratic Forces routed the remaining extremists in the city, Naim Square, as it is called in Arabic, was one of the final parts of Raqqa to fall. The roundabout was used to carry out a number of public executions, a hallmark of ISIL’s tactics to maintain control over populations in the areas of Syria and Iraq that they captured.

The battle of Raqqa (2017), also known as the second battle of Raqqa, was the fifth and final phase of the Raqqa campaign (2016–2017) launched by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the Islamic State (ISIL) with an aim to seize the city of …

Raqqa Is in Ruins, and ISIS in Retreat. The flag of a U.S.-backed militia is raised in Naim Square, once the site of executions by ISIS. When Ahmed Hassan was a child, he played soccer in a...

Oct 20, 2017 · Syrian Democratic Forces celebrated their hard-won victory around Naim Square, which was where ISIS fighters once carried out public beheadings and executions during their occupation of the city. Also known as "Paradise Square," it had been a symbol of brutality when Raqqa was the "capital" of ISIS's self-declared caliphate.

One day after U.S.-backed Syrian militias defeated the Islamic State in the country’s capital, the town is an urban husk of hollow buildings and bodies lying in rubble-strewn streets.

In March 2013, Raqqah became the first Syrian provincial capital to fall to opposition forces in the nascent rebellion against the Assad regime. Within a month of its seizure—by April 2013—ISIL begin to compete against other opposition forces for control over Raqqah.

Nov 11, 2021 · The Al-Naim (Paradise) traffic circle was anything but heavenly when the Islamic State group reigned over Raqa, its former de facto Syrian capital, between 2014 and 2017. Residents dubbed it...

Dec 19, 2017 · It was named "paradise" square, but the Islamic State made it a hell on earth. As thousands return to Raqqa, the horrors of the 'caliphate' still haunt Naim Square and overshadow attempts to rebuild the ruined city.

Oct 20, 2017 · US-backed militias on Friday declared the “total liberation” of the Syrian city of Raqqa, which for more than three years was the de facto capital of ISIS.

Nov 11, 2021 · The Al-Naim (Paradise) traffic circle was anything but heavenly when the Islamic State group reigned over Raqqa, its former de facto Syrian capital, between 2014 and 2017.